CHP Stops Drivers Traveling At Raceway Speeds; 'Our Freeway Systems Are Not The Autobahn'
CONCORD (CBS SF) -- The California Highway Patrol continues to stop and ticket drivers traveling at raceway speeds exceeding 100 mph on local San Francisco Bay Area freeways.
On Friday, CHP Contra Costa posted photos on Facebook of two of the latest offenders. One of the drivers was clocked at 131 mph and they did not even have a license.
A second was pulled over hours later going 121 mph on Highway 4.
Between March 19 and April 19, the CHP issued 2,493 citations statewide to drivers speeding more than 100 mph, compared to 1,335 during the same period a year earlier.
CHP Commissioner Warren Stanley has called the jump in tickets written for excessive speeds alarming.
"Higher speeds can lead to much more serious injuries and significantly increase the chance of death should a crash occur," Stanley said in a statement to the San Diego Union Tribune. "Keep yourself and those on the road around you safe. Slow down and drive at a safe, legal speed."
It was a sentiment echoed by officers from the CHP's Contra Costa office.
"In all seriousness, these types of speeds are truly dangerous to all motorists on the road," the CHP posted on Facebook. "We are out enforcing all laws on all roads, especially Hwy 4, to take these dangerous drivers off the roadway."
Months ago with businesses and offices closed down and the Bay Area in the grips of a severe COVID outbreak, the CHP issued a plead to drivers to slow down.
"Our freeway systems are not the (German) autobahn," said CHP Officer John Fransen warned months ago. "They're not designed for people to travel over 100 miles per hour, and vehicles are not designed for 100 mile per hour impact."